From New York Times bestselling author J. Elle comes a modern-day YA romantic fantasy series opener about a glamorous magical world of social elites, forbidden love, and a dark magic that could destroy it all.
A must-read for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Stephanie Garber, and Bridgerton.
RICH IS THE BLOOD OF THE CHOSEN.
17 year-old Quell has lived her entire life on the run. She and her mother have fled from city to city, in order to hide the deadly magic that flows through Quell’s veins.
Until someone discovers her dark secret.
To hide from the assassin hunting her, and keep her mother out of harm’s way, Quell reluctantly inducts into a debutante society of magical social elites called the Order that she never knew existed. If she can pass their three rites of membership, mastering their proper form of magic, she’ll be able to secretly bury her forbidden magic forever.
If caught, she will be killed.
But becoming the perfect debutante is a lot harder than Quell imagined, especially when there’s more than tutoring happening with Jordan, her brooding mentor and— assassin in training.
When Quell uncovers the deadly lengths the Order will go to defend its wealth and power, she’s forced to choose: embrace the dark magic she’s been running from her entire life or risk losing everything, and everyone, she’s grown to love.
Still, she fears the most formidable monster she’ll have to face is the one inside.
Brimming with ballgowns and betrayal, magic and mystery, decadence and darkness, House of Marionne is perfect for readers who crave morally gray characters, irresistible romance, dark academia, and a deeply intoxicating and original world.
“But duty was the death of freedom.”
Elle, J. House of Marionne (Kindle Location 95). Kindle Edition.
This is my first J.Elle book, and I am a fan! House of Marionne is a dark academia bursting with magic that had be spiraling and guessing right along with the characters up until the very end.
Our FMC, Quell, I really enjoyed following. She is thrust into a world she had no idea existed and also had to learn magic at multitudes that she could have never imagined. I loved that under everything she was growing to learn, she stayed true to what SHE wanted.
On the other side we have Jordan who is so duty-bound yet impressive in his skills. I really liked his attention on Quell and his strong will to do what’s best for her. I’ll be very curious to see their relationship in future books (side eyes, no spoilers eeek!).
The only thing I would say is beginning is a bit confusing and a lot to catch onto. The story honestly doesn’t really start to pick up until she finds herself at House Marionne. And at first I was confused with the second POV we get snippets of and was constantly trying to figure out why it was there. However, at the end of the book oh man does it boom with surprisingly revelation and it’s an absolutely oh **** moment.
“The standards do not lower here, you meet them or you leave.“
Elle, J. House of Marionne (Kindle Location 1112). Kindle Edition.
Overall, I absolutely adored this gorgeous crafted ride by J. Elle. The world-building is such a cool ballgowns meets different “houses” of magic. If you love some dark academia, secret societies, slight forbidden romance, and a bombshell of an ending… this one is for you!
Special thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group (Razorbill) for an ARC of this story.
Jotted by Jena 